Comments on: Health Insurance Outlook for U.S. Soloists Not Entirely Awful

By: Physical Therapy Colorado

Physical Therapy Colorado — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:20:09 +0000

We all know health insurance premiums and costs are rising. What I can’t understand is where is the money going?

For example our reimbursement for providing services hasn’t changed much in the last 10 years.

Anyone have any insight in where the money is going?

By: Robbie

Robbie — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:41:32 +0000

Is it not true that if you are uninsured the doctors and labs charge you a higher rate?

By: Health Insurance Guide

Health Insurance Guide — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:16:11 +0000

great post! i especially found it where it stated. Everyone knows that the health insurance industry is continually raising monthly premiums, and many feel this is unjust to you as the consumer. However, the health insurance industry has had to fight increasing health insurance fraud. The amount of money spent on investigating and prosecuting fraud is then passed on to policyholders. Many people do not understand what health insurance fraud entails, though. With reports estimating health insurance fraud is a $30 billion to over $100 billion industry per year, the topic should not be taken lightly. Every health insurance policyholder should understand what health insurance fraud is and its consequences. By doing so, you are more able to recognize and fight fraud.

By: Web Worker Daily » Archive Web Work - Who Benefits? «

Web Worker Daily » Archive Web Work - Who Benefits? « — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:00:04 +0000

[...] employee cost. The other way to view this, though, is as shifting costs to the worker. Health insurance is the most obvious area in which freelance web workers pay their own way, but there are a myriad [...]

By: CARRIE

CARRIE — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:09:17 +0000

http://www.asihealthcare or 1-800-929-8344 and give them referral id# 239416

get a healthcare and a free cellphone w/ 250 minutes every month

home of the smiling frog!!!!!!!!!!

By: her every cent counts

her every cent counts — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:00:24 +0000

…except, when you cannot be accepted for catastrophic insurance due to pre-existing conditions, you’re pretty much SOL.

I’m a fairly healthy 20-something female, but due to my attempts to medically deal with depression and anxiety in the past, when I was covered by health insurance, I have made it nearly impossible for myself as an independent contractor to get covered.

I’ve had to lie in order to get insurance. So on top of the high deductibles and premiums, I also have to worry about being caught in a lie. And that’s no fun.

COBRA would have been extremely expensive and not feasible with my monthly budget. So it was either lie or deal with no insurance.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:57:02 +0000

I really fail to understand the hysteria about living without health insurance. The worst that can happen is that you have to declare bankruptcy. For most of us, that is not a big deal, especially if you live in a state with a generous homestead exemption. Sure, the new bankruptcy law disallows Chapter 7 if you are above the median income, but this is a moot point, since a really serious income will eliminate your income for at lesat a year and so you will fall below the median. The only people who need to be worried are people with so much wealth that bankruptcy is not an option, and those people can afford to buy health insurance. That woman above thinks she is so lucky to only be paying $164/month. Well, she is already out $1968 on premiums and still has to pay a $500 deductible plus 20% of everything over that. Maybe its a good deal for someone who is constantly needing hospitalization, but for the majority of people, for whom hospitization is extremely unlikely and hence medical expenses per year average $0, that is a really bad deal.

By: datadave

datadave — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:47:23 +0000

There is a huge variability as to which state you live in. I am uninsured and don’t expect to be insured unless I am lucky enough to marry my current g/f. That’s another issue?

As a moral issue and pure business sense I wish not participate in being an impoverished chump at the behest of the insurance industry which uses fear and extortion to obtain profits at my expense.

As protection for what? They can dump you at little notice and have doen for many if they become sick and can’t keep paying premiums. Also the emergency room will take limited payments if you are already low income. Insurance makes sense if you have a good deal of wealth and so forth but due to the marginalization of the lower middle class of which I am part… a huge majority of Americans…we no longer have much wealth other than our overlevaged and overfinanced homes and in my case I don’t have that even.

So I stay healthy, refuse to pay extortion taxes (called health insurance) and worry about both McCain’s and Clinton’s health care proposals which would either do little or nothing or force me to pay into a corrupt system. So far Obama seems to have the most insight into how people like me who have to work in solo or small business formats. I don’t have a grad. degree nor a history of working for large corps. that might offer health insurance and as that sector isn’t hiring anyway…I frankly can’t afford a system that is meant to protect the so-called health care providers, not the customers.

By: Queercents » Blog Archive » Health Insurance for the Self-Employed: Navigating the Wild Waters

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:47:39 +0000

[...] for the self-employed are not as bleak as you might think. Anne at Web Worker Daily says in “Health Insurance Outlook for Soloists”: But the health insurance outlook for the self-employed is not as bad as you might think. If you [...]

By: Matthew Cornell

Matthew Cornell — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:25:09 +0000

Thanks for the post. For me (self-employed for 1 year, wife and child) I’ve found that good health insurance is a) extremely expensive, and b) the system is broken. Period. See the movie Sicko, then come back. Regan linked the idea of health care for everyone to Communism, and it hasn’t faded yet. Think public education is good? Think retirement is good? They’re supported by the state. But health insurance… Ridiculous. But probably too much $$$$ involved and not enough accountability on the part of our representatives for it to change.

Sorry for the rant. Bottom line: You’re way off :-)

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:20:25 +0000

Thank you for this post. I know that this is a big obstacle to many would-be entrepreneurs. I am blessed to have insurance through my DH’s job, but I know that not everyone is so lucky.

By: forHealth

forHealth — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 03:21:33 +0000

I wish I could believe that insurers are now competing in the individual market. I was denied a preferred policy because I took a certain infertility medication and talked to my doctor about infertility. I was referred to a high risk pool at 3 times the cost – way beyond my budget. I appealed three times and I was denied each time. Neither the insurance company nor the agent were willing to work with me or offer alternatives. I am on my own.

By: Marina Martin

Marina Martin — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:54:04 +0000

I have fantastic individual insurance through Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Washington. $500 deductible, huge network, $3k for Rx a year, $10 generics, and they cover everything at 80% — for $164 a month.

I’m also a diabetic, and in most states it’s impossible to get individual coverage at all, so that makes it even better.

Regence of Oregon offers the same plan, I believe. Highly recommended for any soloists in the Pacific Northwest.

By: Anne Zelenka

Anne Zelenka — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:36:34 +0000

Thanks for that correction, livingbehindthecurve, I updated the article. I believe the state of Colorado requires individual insurers to waive pre-existing condition exclusions in case of prior creditable coverage — in any case, our individual insurer did after confirming prior coverage. More reason to go with a broker who is knowledgeable about what laws apply to individuals as well as groups.

By: livingbehindthecurve

livingbehindthecurve — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:00:24 +0000

Unfortunately, the HIPAA provision regarding pre-existing conditions only applies to group plans and not individuals. Even if your former employer’s group plan and your new individual plan overlap, individual policies are not required to cover pre-existings, and most do not.

By: Anne Zelenka

Anne Zelenka — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:29:09 +0000

Of course the risk you take with an HDHP is that you have to pay the deductible in any given year — in exchange for taking on that risk, you pay less in monthly premiums. In other words, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. ;)

The real usefulness and importance of health coverage, like all insurance, is to insure against catastrophic costs, not against the first few thousand (HDHPs usually have deductibles in the $2K-5K range).

A far graver problem for the seriously ill is the lifetime caps of $1 million or $2 million that many policies have. That’s where you have uncontrollable, unhedgable risk.